CARSON >> Seven months later, it still took a minute or two to wrap the old noggin around it.

Not going to lie, it was a little bit weird taking it all in.

Even after months and months of preparation and years and years of bracing and speculation and one extraordinarily wild roller-coaster ride on which fans from Los Angeles to St. Louis to Oakland to San Diego endured the emotionally charged and gut-wrenching process of the NFL deciding how best to return pro football to Tinseltown.

That it finally all culminated on Sunday at StubHub Center was a bit of a jolt to the system. No pun intended.

The Los Angeles Chargers really are a thing, folks.

And they really did take the field at StubHub Center on Sunday.

Not as the 56-year friend we’ve always known them as 120 miles away in San Diego. But as full-fledged members of the community. Our new neighbors, if you will.

And every once in awhile we still had to catch ourselves a bit. At least I did.

The Chargers?

Los Angeles?

Seriously?

Yup.

That really was Philip Rivers standing tall in the pocket unleashing a turbo-charged touchdown pass to open the Chargers’ first drive in their new home.

And yup, that really was Antonio Gates on the other end of the completion, artfully using his Kent State basketball background to box out a Seattle Seahawks defender as he secured Rivers’ throw.

By the way, leave it to Rivers and Gates to bring some normalcy to a decidedly surreal day in front of 21,054 fans who showed up in the 27,000-seat venue..

After all, what’s more Chargers than a Rivers to Gates touchdown pass?

“The atmosphere was great. Really wasn’t expecting a full house. I’d assumed that Seattle would bring their fans, and we’d have some Los Angeles fans that’d be here to support us,” Gates said. “But nevertheless, I was more anxious to see what we were about, about the team. And what we can accomplish. For us, it was about making progress. That’s what it’s always about in the preseason, is just trying to make progress to start off the season.”

It’s just that on Sunday they did it for the good name of Los Angeles.

And Orange and San Bernardino and Riverside and Ventura counties, for that matter. And the 20 million or so residents that call the Chargers sprawling new community home.

Our new friends make no secret they are fighting for all of our hearts and attention spans. Fight For L.A., right?

No, that probably won’t matter to the legion of Rams fans who have no intention of taking the Chargers up on the offer.

Nor should it.

And there’s a whole bunch of local Raiders fans who have no intention of switching allegiances any time soon.

That’s OK.

There are plenty of fans to go around. More than enough to tap into and build a strong base.

Los Angeles and vicinity has proved over and over, time and time again, it opens its arms in support of the local sports teams as well as any region in the country.

Don’t believe me?

Go take a look at the attendance figures of any L.A. or Orange County pro sports team. Every year, every team, they’re always among the most ardently supported.

To think that won’t be the case with the Chargers is foolish.

But give them credit for not taking anything for granted. They’re boldly coming right at us with their “Fight for L.A.” campaign. It was everywhere you turned on Sunday, splattered all over StubHub Center and blaring from the two video scoreboards.

It’s not a fight against anyone in particular, just a promise and pledge to be good neighbors and put a worthy product on the field to earn our respect and attention and devotion.

“Just us being in a new environment and a new city, we’re trying to get the fans on our side,” wide receiver Travis Benjamin said. “Any time we step on a field, it’s a fight for pride and to win.”

It’s on them to follow through on their vow to win us over. And we’ll be here every single day holding them accountable. We’ll praise them when they do well and scold them when they fall short. A few more whuppins like the 48-17 beatdown the Seahawks delivered and the scoldings might come sooner rather than later.

Point is, we’ll treat them just as we do the Lakers and Dodgers and Rams and Clippers and Angels and Kings and on and on.and on.

Nevertheless, there’s still some getting used to.

.But then, it’s been that kind of year for us now hasn’t it?

Two decades passed without the NFL in Los Angeles and then bang, all of a sudden the Rams return home last year and boom, here come the Chargers 12 months later to join them.

Vincent Bonsignore is an NFL columnist for the Southern California News Group. Having covered the Los Angeles sports scene for more than two decades, Bonsignore has emerged as one of the leading voices on the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL and NFL relocation.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.